Contributor(s): Professor Joseph Nye | Wealth and power are shifting from the West to the rising economies of the East. But in a world of complex interdependence, who wields power, to what end, and with what consequences is far from clear. Joseph Nye is distinguished service professor and former dean of the Harvard Kennedy School.

Contributor(s): Professor Anat Admati | The past few years have shown that risks in banking can impose significant costs on the economy. Many claim, however, that a safer banking system would require sacrificing lending and economic growth. Anat Admati examines this claim and the narratives used by bankers, politicians, and regulators to rationalize the lack of reform, exposing them as invalid. Admati calls for ambitious reform and outlines specific and highly beneficial steps that can be taken immediately. Anat Admati is the George G. C. Parker Professor of Finance and Economics at Stanford's Graduate School of Business. She serves on the FDIC Systemic Resolution Advisory Committee and has contributed to the Financial Times, Bloomberg News, and the New York Times. This event marks the publication of her new book The Bankers' New Clothes: What's Wrong with Banking and What to Do about It.

Contributor(s): Laila El-Haddad, Maggie Schmitt | In the summer of 2010, writer Laila El-Haddad and food documentarian Maggie Schmitt were able to fulfil a long-held plan to travel the length of the Gaza Strip, documenting all aspects of the Gaza District's notably distinctive cuisine, the lives of many experienced Gaza cooks, and the challenges facing the Strip's food system today. The result is The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey, a richly illustrated volume whose 130 fully kitchen-tested recipes represent the first-ever codification of Gaza's rich culinary heritage. The book's numerous sidebars also take the reader into the kitchens, garden-plots, and farms of Gazan families, showing how the resilience and resourcefulness of the Strip's residents-- including the 80% of them who are refugees from parts of the Gaza District that were captured by Israel in 1948-- have helped to keep Gaza's food heritage alive today. The Gaza Kitchen has a Foreword by former New York Times senior food writer Nancy Harmon Jenkins and has received plaudits from many experienced food writers, including Claudia Roden, Anthony Bourdain, and Yotam Ottolenghi. It was named the "Best Arab Cuisine book of 2012" by Gourmand International, and has been widely reviewed in media outlets worldwide. Laila El-Haddad, is a talented blogger, political analyst, social activist, and parent-of-three from Gaza City. Her 2010 book Gaza Mom: Palestine, Politics, Parenting, and Everything in Between won praise from Hanan Ashrawi, Ali Abunimah, and others. Laila was born in Kuwait and raised primarily in Saudi Arabia, while summering in Gaza. She received her BA from Duke University and her MPP from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. Maggie Schmitt, is a writer, researcher, translator, educator, and social activist. She holds a B.A. from Harvard in Literature and has conducted advanced graduate studies in Social Anthropology and Mediterranean Studies at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She works in various media—writing, production, photography, video—exploring and recording the daily practices of ordinary people as a way of understanding political and social realities in various parts of the Mediterranean region.

Contributor(s): Gavin Hewitt | Gavin Hewitt will discuss the story of a flawed dream, a noble vision that turned dangerous and which has led Europe into its gravest crisis for which it was totally unprepared. Gavin Hewitt has been the BBC’s Europe editor since 2009. He is an award-winning journalist and has covered stories all over the world. His new book is The Lost Continent: The BBC's Europe Editor on Europe's Darkest Hour Since World War Two.

Contributor(s): Dr Kwesi Aning | An examination of the changing strategic security environment in West Africa and the effectiveness of the response initiated by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) with the support of the international community. Kwesi Aning is the head of academic affairs at the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Centre in Accra.

Contributor(s): Professor Matthew Broome, Dr Bonnie Evans, Professor Tim Thornton | How should we think of mental disorders? Can psychiatry be reduced to neuroscience, or is there something irreducibly mental in mental illness? Matthew Broome is associate clinical professor of psychiatry and consultant psychiatrist in early intervention in the Division of Mental Health and Wellbeing at the University of Warwick Medical School. Bonnie Evans is a researcher in the Centre for the Humanities and Health at King’s College London. Tim Thornton is professor of philosophy and mental health at the University of Central Lancashire.

Contributor(s): Saleh Muslim Mohamed | It is nine months since Kurds took control of towns in northern Syria, having established an unprecedented coalition of Kurdish parties. Saleh Muslim Mohamed, the co-President of the most prominent Syrian Kurdish party, will assess the progress of Kurdish politics and local government and the wider Syrian and regional context. Saleh Muslim Mohamed is the Co-President of the Democratic Union Party (PYD), the Deputy General Coordinator of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria (NCB) and a member of the Supreme Kurdish Council in Syria.

Contributor(s): Sir Malcolm Rifkind | The acute economic crisis of the euro, coupled with the chronic political crisis of Europe’s democratic deficit, have created a situation in which Britain’s membership of the European Union can no longer be taken for granted. Former Foreign Secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind outlines a ‘moderate eurosceptic’ approach to the issue, which he believes would produce a mutually beneficial solution acceptable to the United Kingdom and her European partners alike. Sir Malcolm Rifkind is Conservative Member of Parliament for Kensington. He first entered Parliament in 1974 as Member for Edinburgh Pentlands, serving as Defence Secretary between 1992 and 1995, and as Foreign Secretary between 1995 and 1997. He is currently serving as Chairman of the Intelligence and Security Committee, which oversees the UK’s intelligence agencies.

Contributor(s): Professor Theda Skocpol | What happened to Obama's "new New Deal"? Why did his achievements enrage opponents more than they satisfied supporters? How has the Tea Party's ascendance reshaped American politics? Theda Skocpol is the Victor S. Thomas Professor of Government and Sociology at Harvard University.

Contributor(s): Dr Bassem Awadallah, Dr Adeel Malik | The speakers will argue that the struggle for a new Middle East will be won or lost in the private sector, and that dismantling regional barriers to trade constitute the most important collective action problem that the Middle East has faced since the fall of the Ottoman Empire. Bassem Awadallah is the former Jordanian minister of finance. Adeel Malik is Islamic Centre lecturer in Development Economics and Globe Fellow in the Economies of Muslim Societies at Oxford University.